16 September 2009

It took me a couple of days to get over the all-nighter I did on Friday/Saturday, had to get some rest and recovery. Also, had to have the cable replaced which shifts my rear derailleur. Took it over to Outspokin' and they hooked me up, thanks guys! They were a major player in the planning/executing of the Kickin Cancer Night Owl Ride. That was Monday, and I was still sore, literally, two of them on the ole sitter!
All better Tuesday though, time to hit the road! Left home about 9am and headed out toward Gilbert where I would take a right and head toward the Lake. Little bit of a head wind, but temps were great and I felt good! I enjoy going to the end of a certain island, I won't name it out of respect for those that live there, but here's a picture of the view one has when one runs out of land.
Now me, if I had a bottomless cup of coffee (and a Port-O-John!), I could sit there all day and just look at the Lake. Something magical about water. While I was sitting there, however, I sighted the rumored Lake Murray Monster, shown in this grainy, black and white photograph:
Critics and skeptics denounce this and say it's just an otter or some other creature, but I have other ideas that involve some of the bombing practice done in the area around WWII. Just sayin'.
Even scarier than a monster is this image taken at the same location, probably to be feared more than any monster:
After playing around with my phone camera, I left the island and decided to point it toward home, after stopping to bring my sugar back up. I was rolling down the highway at 18-20mph (yeah, okay, it was slightly downhill) and a large truck rolls up beside me and slows to my speed. I immediately thought the worst, I was about to get screamed at for riding my bike on someone's road (how much have I paid in taxes?); ah, not so! It was my good friend Rob, in a company truck. I guess he saw me coming from the other direction and turned around to encourage me, and I appreciated every word of it. That's what I like about cycling: there are those who are overly competitive, but they are the exception. Most of the people I encounter on bikes are super-nice and very encouraging. Rob's wife is doing a two-day ride in NC this weekend to raise money for United Cerebral Palsy; GO APRIL!!
That was just my first ride of the day. It was Tuesday and that meant Tri-City ride in the late afternoon. There were about 40 riders yesterday that met for the Tuesday night ride, and headed out toward Dixiana. Had a good ride, for the most part, a fairly fast 19 miles. Enjoy riding with this group, see my earlier comments about encouragement. It was not without its drama, but I'll have to write more about that later. Just be careful out there and be ready for anything.
Be blessed, be safe.